According to the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC), there is a pervasive food shortage in senior high schools (SHSs), which calls for immediate action from duty holders.
In a statement, the GNECC said that the current predicament was caused by the National Food Buffer Stock Company Limited not receiving payment for arrears that were owed for the delivery of food to senior high schools.
In order to get through these obstacles, GNECC pleaded with the government to give money to the National Food Buffer Stock Company Limited in order to address the severe food shortages in the schools.
“The shortage of food has led to students resorting to some form of barter trading. Some students who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that they have only one meal a day. In some schools, dried fish are changed into powdered fish, and small quantities are used to
prepare stew and soup for the students. This situation is making it difficult for them to concentrate and learn.
“GNECC believes that the non-payment of arrears to the National Food Buffer Stock Company Limited to send food to Senior High Schools, is to be blamed for the current situation. To overcome these difficulties, GNECC urges the government to pay the National Food Buffer Stock Company Limited to enable remedy the dire food shortages in the schools.
“GNECC is encouraged by the Minister for Education’s guarantee that food will be provided to the impacted schools on Tuesday, 12th July, 2022 to address the problem.
“GNECC also urges the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, and the National Food Buffer Stock Company Limited to take measures to prevent this situation, which appears to be re-occurring. Besides, we are concerned about the seemingly firefighting approach to dealing with issues concerning the Free Senior High School, which undermine the implementation of the policy. We hope that the Minister of Education would ensure that in the interest of the poorest of the poor, for whose sake the policy was introduced, the declaration to provide money and food to the schools will be fulfilled so that our children, particularly those in the final year, can prepare for the forthcoming examinations without a looming threat of disruption.
“Our investigation also reveals that release of feeding grants to the special schools have not been regular. We therefore call on the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service to ensure timely release of feeding grant for effective running of the Special Schools. Finally, we believe with proper planning, situations like these should not repeat itself because of the negative impact it has on teaching and learning,” their statement said.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the Education Ministry, Kwasi Kwarteng has assured that food stuffs are going to be distributed.
“As I have indicated already, all the schools in the Upper West Region are going to receive food supplies this morning and the by the close of today” Kwarteng told 3FM Sunrise on Tuesday 12 July, 2022.
